Checking In

Time for an update to all our fans out there. I know you've been dying to know what we've been up to. (Humor me.) Here's a few big hurdles we've been able to jump in the past few weeks.


First hurdle:
Two or so weeks ago Zack and I finished the last training module of the class we've been taking. The last module was about 2 hours long with a multiple choice and short answer test afterwards. The previous ones were only about 30 minutes long with just a multiple choice test afterwards. We had to watch the module in a couple of increments because of our schedules. We finally got it done and took the test. The last test is hand scored and the results are sent to us via email. We got notification just a few days ago that we passed!
I won't go into everything we learned because that would take way too much time than I care to spend, but I will mention something we learned about power struggles. The first advice: Don't get into them with your kids. (Easier said than done, I know.) Secondly, if you find yourself in a power struggle, you need to win and win quickly. (Once again, easier said than done.) Third, you can't win a power struggle in the following three areas: Eating, sleeping, and potty. Just give it up. You can't MAKE your child do any of those things. (For those of you interested, you also can't make your dogs do those things either. I've tried.)

Second hurdle:
Our homestudy was finished and approved!

Third hurdle:
I sent the majority if our dossier to AAI! They received it and sent a few of the papers to Washington, D.C. (Apparently it goes to the desk of Hilary Clinton. I never would have thought that she would be involved in the making of my family.) When she sends those important papers back then the entire dossier is sent to Ethiopia. We'll be sure to announce when it's sent. That's a big milestone in the whole international adoption process.

Fourth hurdle:
We went to our local USCIS office (Immigration) to file our I-600A form and get fingerprinted. This is a form that has to be submitted and processed before our child can come into the country. As we were driving there we were asking ourselves why we have to submit this form so early in the process, even before we have a child to bring into the country. We got our answer from the nice man who took our forms. We asked him how long it takes for this form to be processed. His reply, "We're working on March right now." Really? It takes 4 months?! Ahhh, government. Efficiency at it's very worst. Can't wait for health care to be run just as efficiently...

That's all our hurdles so far. There really aren't any more. I have to mail our I-600 form, our notarized (gotta love the notarizations) homestudy, and the certificates we earned from the class we took to AAI and then we're officially done...for now. I'll write another post on just where we are in the process. This post is long enough.